Family Watchdog Site Offers Consolidated Sex Offender Registry Information
Also Raises Privacy Concerns and False Sense of Security.
Even more amazing, and somewhat alarming for privacy rights advocates, you can enter a sex offender's full or even just his or her last name, and you can select the sexual predator from the list of nationwide offenders that is returned to see details, any aliases, convictions, a physical description, photos, and a map of the sex offender's currently registered address.
As a parent of two children, I am concerned about sexual predators living near my home or where my children go to school. While none live in my immediate vicinity, a quick check of the neighborhood where my children's grandmother lives yielded one home address of a sex offender guilty of child molestation, one home of a convicted rapist, and one home of some person convicted of an "other offense." The person convicted of child molestation is disconcerting because he lives three blocks from an elementary school. This information may be useful in determining which areas to avoid during trick-or-treating, school fundraising sales, or the walk to and from school. If a sexual predator, particularly one with a history of acts with minors, lives very close by, it may help parents better define areas that their children may play. So, it might be a tool I check from time to time.
Family Watchdog is a great information service which consolidates information that is readily available from most local law enforcement sites, but it also raises significant privacy concerns. I am an ardent defender of the constitutionally implied "right" to privacy. What someone does in his or her bedroom, provided it is consensual, is one's own business. The key word is consent.
Minors can't legally give consent; rape isn't consensual. Convicted sex offenders generally receive a jail or prison sentence, followed by a period of probation in which they are supervised. After probation, he or she is released. Now, with sex offender registries, an issue of fairness is raised. A sex offender who serves his or her time has paid for the crime, but must now practically wear a symbol of this crime for years afterwards, or life, being shunned by society. An obvious retort to this argument is that many, if not most, states take away a felon's right to vote, so how is this different? If you commit a crime, there are penalties. The sex offender registry is another lingering penalty for sexual predators.
The biggest difficulty is determining which offenders are at risk of re-offending. Rather than take the time to assess this risk, many states and localities paint all sex offenders with the same brush, forcing them to register their addresses with the police department. This often follows sex offenders around for life, even if the crime was a sex act between, say, a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old. They're only one year apart physically, but miles apart legally. The law in some states makes the 17-year-old a felon who will have to stay on the sex offender registry for years, if not life.
Others, like teens ranging in age from 13 to 17, as Michelle Miller writes for CBS News, are being charged with distributing child pornography for sending nude or partially nude pictures of themselves to boyfriends or girlfriends via cell phone. This flirtatious act of youthful indiscretion is a felony that could result in being added to the sex offender registry. Obviously, there is a need for some rational thought regarding determining who is a true risk to society.
Despite these arguments, there is a real reason for concern about sexual predators, as there is a high risk for re-offense for those who are convicted of child molestation. Family Watchdog estimates the re-arrest rate for convicted child molesters at 52 percent. But one must remember these are estimates for those who have already been convicted. Sexual crimes often go unreported or occur for some time before the perpetrator is caught.
Carl Bialik in the Wall Street Journal reports that, using victimization reports, it is estimated nearly 90 percent of sexual crimes are not reported, meaning sites such as Family Watchdog might give a false sense of security to parents hoping to keep their children safe from sexual predators. Family Watchdog, while a useful tool in knowing where sex offenders are, is not a substitute for simply being aware of where your kids are and keeping the lines of communication open.
Sources:
Family Watchdog. (2010).
Bialik, Carl. (2008). Under-reporting Clouds Attempt to Count Repeat Sex Offenders. Wall Street Journal.
Miller, Michelle and Hirschkorn, Phil. (2010). Sexting Leads to Child Porn Charges for Teens. CBS News.
Published by R. D. Lamont
R. D. Lamont holds a B.S. in Business Information Systems and is a current MBA student, specializing in finance and international business. Currently working as a software engineer in the financial services... View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentJust in case any who would twist my words in reference to therapy - the child molester has gone through years of rationalizations that enabled their abusive behavior and therapy can work to reverse that. It is probably most effective when it follows the "slap in the face" wake-up provided by the arrest and legal process. Mr Lamont, you mentioned "distance and association" as possible deterrents to recidivism. All the available literature on "distance" says it has no effect and most is available in my "Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Endanger Children". Social isolation is known to be a huge stressor, and stress is known to exacerbate poor decision making, and therefore the stress of social isolation is associated with increasing the likelyhood of recidivism, not reducing it. Incarceration without therapy has been shown to intensify molesters fantasies and they leave prison more dangerous than when they went in.
Much has been discovered and written about sex offenders in the last two decades. One aspect that most absolutely will not accept is that the vast majority (93% family, friend, acquaintances) are actually concerned for the welfare of the child but acknowledging the harm they cause is suppressed and becomes more so with each episode. I believe that for the majority, who do not reoffend, the arrest and legal process is like a slap in the face that "wakes them up." The therapy reverses the rationalization process they underwent to allow their abusive behaviors. Of course, there are surely those who fit your friends conjecture, but victims are more likely to tell these days and there really isn't much the offender can do about that.
Two things are certain: Sex offenders are like everyone else in that each is an individual - the dynamic and static risk factors are in many ways peculiar to each one. Second, human nature is human nature - we are each one of us capable of rationalizing our way past our own prohibitions to decend into sexual deviancy, infidelity, alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, or even hobbies that one so not engaged may call obsessive while we are convinced we are just enthusiastic. I read one analytic research report on sex offenders that found a primary attribute of higher intelligence was the formation of increasingly pathetic rationalizations for their behavior. If they are so intelligent, how did they believe such lies - to themselves!? Such is the complexity of human nature.
....3) some learn to channel their desires into other “legal†outlets or activities that aren't harmful to innocent victims. 4) that probation restrictions such as distance and association make them less able to be in situations where they are likely to be a repeat offender without violating parole and the risk of re-arrest. 5) finally, that some do learn to better cover their tracks. I want to believe that #'s 1,2, and 3 are the prevalent reasons, but feel that #'s 4 and 5 are at work behind the low recidivism rates. You've written a good deal on the subject, what are your thoughts? Regards, R. D.
Paul, I appreciate the comments, and the tip on how to revise an article. I'm reviewing it now and will resubmit it to YCN this week for revision with the more accurate numbers and some revisions to my review of the service. Just out of curiosity, when I discussed this with another individual, it was suggested that the low rates of recidivism might be because registered sex offenders learned how to better cover their tracks, and that especially in the case where power was part of the offender's crime (such as violent rape and molestation of the very young or elderly) that their urges are due to mental illness and are not easily cured. My gut instinct tells me that the low recidivism rate for actual repeat sex offenses among all registered sex offenders could be due to a combination of factors: 1) some aren't likely to re-offend because it was an isolated act of indiscretion. 2) some might actually be "cured" by counseling during incarceration or probation. 3)
Mr Lamont, you're a breath of fresh air on YCN. Too many writers, people in general really, either refuse to or can not accept any fact that does not support their own paradigms. As to vetting your facts, you can't be blamed for being misled along with most everyone else. Media are too willing to pander to "hysteria sells news" and politiciana pander to voters who want to "get tough" on criminals. Thank you for being willing to accept fact, you'll make an excelent public servant if you continue writing.
Thanks for the tip, I really do appreciate the information. The technical violation percentage does indeed highlight that repeat 'criminal' offenses are rare among sex offenders. Unfortunately, I didn't know the "whole truth" when I posted the original article back in November, and only found the full statistics after you commented. I'm one who's quick to point out the flaws in preference polling and other people's statistics, so definitely shame on me for propagating flawed stats. At the time of the article's writing, FW seemed like a good idea, but I noted that it shouldn't be relied upon to keep one's family safe. I wasn't paid to sing the praises of FW, but admittedly, was paid to offer up a critique of it. Had I the ability to revise the above article, I would do so. Your comments are a valuable reminder that vetting one's facts should be a top priority for writers/advertisers. Regards, R. D.
And capitalism is a good thing, I just wish (not referring specifically to FW) there were more "whole truth" honesty involved in the general practice of it.
Knowing non-sex offenders recidivism rate tells me you might be familiar with the report - an unfortunately rare qualification. Perhaps you would be interested in visiting California Sex Offender Management Board's site (CASOMB in search, click reports). Their "Assessment of Current Management Practices..." section on recidivism goes further than the USDOJ report by breaking down their 43.6% to 3.55% sex crime recidivism, 4.57% non-sex felony recidivism, and 35.48% technical violations of parole. My point was that any sex offender recidivism rate is usually interpreted to be the rate for repeating a sex crime and that isn't true.
Paul, those are indeed interesting statistics, and it does appear that Family Watchdog misrepresented the recidivism rate. I agree with the substance of your comment, and even said as much in my closing comments about the false sense of security that it provides. That being said, if 43% of convicted sex offenders are re-arrested for another crime after they are released, I think it would be valuable to know whether one lived nearby. Likewise with non-sex offender criminals who have a 68% rate of recidivism. As those crimes aren't punishable by inclusion in a registry of offenders, addresses aren't made public and sites like Family Watchdog can't report on them.
In any case, sites like FW provide a service for people who want to pay for information that is available for free elsewhere. That's capitalism too. Re-package and make money...